Car navigation system

ABSTRACT

A car navigation system includes: a vehicle-information acquiring means  14  for acquiring the vehicle information held by a vehicle  2 ; a setting-information generating means  15, 16  for generating setting information to be set in a processing program  19  based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle-information acquiring means; a setting-information notification means  17  for notifying the setting information generated by the setting-information generating means  15, 16  to the processing program  19 ; and a setting-information switching means  18 , included in the processing program  19 , for switching the internal setting state of the processing program  19  according to the setting information given by the setting-information notification means, wherein the processing program  19  performs a navigation function in the setting state switched by the setting-information switching means  18.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a car navigation system, and moreparticularly to a technology used for enabling a single car navigationsystem to be compatible with plural customers' standards.

BACKGROUND ART

Conventionally, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle has been known.The manufacturer of such a navigation device produces the hardware andprograms therefor tailored to the specifications of individual customers(or dealers), who are automakers or car dealers, for example, andsupplies the devices to the customers because the specifications of thenavigation device vary from customer to customer. Therefore, even if thedevices are of the same type, the map data and programs thereof may notbe shared when the customer is different.

For this reason, a navigation device that can share a navigation systemby selecting and exchanging the CD-ROMs used in various types of systemsis developed (for example, see Patent Reference 1). This navigationdevice stores navigation processing programs, map information used forroute search and route guidance, and other route information, which arecompatible with various types of systems, in its CD-ROM, and its centralprocessor retrieves the program supporting its own type of system fromthe CD-ROM, and reads the program into its program memory to start upthe system, thus performing the navigation function. Accordingly, whenplural types of systems share the CD-ROM, a navigation service freedfrom the system type can be provided.

Patent Reference 1: JP-A-09-053948

The conventional navigation device mentioned above is arranged such thata plurality of programs, which are compatible with the systems,respectively, are stored in a CD-ROM, and each of the systems acquiresthe program supporting its own type of system from the CD-ROM, andexecutes the program. Accordingly, the conventional navigation devicecan perform the navigation function adaptable to the device. However,the device cannot perform the navigation function suitable for anvehicle on which the navigation device is mounted, and for anenvironment in which the vehicle is used.

Moreover, the aforementioned conventional navigation device can be alsoarranged such that all the customers use the same type of hardware, forexample, and the programs are provided for each of the customers, andare stored in a CD-ROM. However, it is necessary to store programscorresponding to the number of customers in the CD-ROM. When the numberof customers increases, the quantity of data of the programs becomesenormous. Therefore, there develops a problem that the programs cannotbe stored in the CD-ROM.

The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above-mentionedproblem. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigationsystem that can perform navigation suitable for the vehicle and the useenvironment in which the vehicle is used by use of a small quantity ofdata.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The car navigation system according to the present invention is a carnavigation system provided with a processing program for performing anavigation function, in order to attain the above-mentioned object, andthe system is arranged to include: a vehicle-information acquiring meansfor acquiring the vehicle information held by a vehicle; asetting-information generating means for generating setting informationto be set in the processing program based on the vehicle informationacquired by the vehicle-information acquiring means; asetting-information notification means for notifying the settinginformation generated by the setting-information generating means to theprocessing program; and a setting-information switching means, includedin the processing program, for switching the setting state in theprocessing program according to the setting information sent by thesetting-information notification means, wherein the processing programexecutes the processing that performs a navigation function in thesetting state switched by the setting-information switching means.

In this way, the navigation function is performed by switching thesetting of the processing program based on the vehicle information heldby the vehicle. As a result, the navigation suitable for the vehicle andthe use environments in which the vehicle is used can be performed.Moreover, the setting state of the processing program is changedaccording to the vehicle information, thereby enabling the navigationwith reference to the vehicle information to be performed. Thiseliminates the need for the car navigation system to have a plurality ofprograms compatible with plural types of systems, respectively, andenables the system to perform the navigation function by use of a singleprogram. Therefore, the problem that the quantity of data becomesenormous as the number of the programs increases can be overcome.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a carnavigation system in accordance with Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the carnavigation system in accordance with Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a first pattern of switching thesetting state in the car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a second pattern of switching thesetting state in the car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a third pattern of switching thesetting state in the car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment1 of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining for a specific example of the firstpattern of switching the setting state in the car navigation system inaccordance with Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the secondpattern of switching the setting state in the car navigation system inaccordance with Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of the thirdpattern of switching the setting state in the car navigation system inaccordance with Embodiment 1 of the present invention; and

FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B are diagrams for explaining an example of displayinga map in a car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described withreference to the drawings in order to explain the present invention infurther detail.

Embodiment 1

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a car orvehicle navigation system in accordance with Embodiment 1 of the presentinvention. This car navigation system 1 is mounted on a vehicle 2 foruse. The vehicle 2 is provided with a vehicle-signal output device 3.The car navigation system 1 and the vehicle-signal output device 3 areconnected by a vehicle-mounted LAN (Local Area Network). Thevehicle-mounted LAN can be configured by use of a MOST (Media OrientedSystems Transport) bus, a CAN (Controller Area Network) bus, a serialbus, infrared rays, and Bluetooth. The vehicle-mounted LAN is furtherconnected with information system units such as a vehicle audio deviceand an AV device, and system units for a body system, a safety system,and a power train (drive control) system, other than the abovecomponents.

The vehicle-signal output device 3 outputs vehicle information. Thisvehicle information has been previously set in the vehicle-signal outputdevice 3 by a customer such as the manufacturer or dealer of the vehicle2, for example. The vehicle information is constituted by includingcustomer information representing the customer.

The car navigation system 1 is composed of a vehicle-mounted informationdevice 10, an information storage device 20, and a display device 30. Inaddition, the vehicle-mounted information device 10 is composed of anexternal communication interface 11, an internal storage device 12, andan information processor 13.

The external communication interface 11 is an interface for which thecar navigation system 1 communicates with the vehicle-signal outputdevice 3. The external communication interface 11 receives the vehicleinformation from the vehicle-signal output device 3, and sends theinformation to the information processor 13. This external communicationinterface 11 is appropriately arranged to comply with communicationstandards adopted in the vehicle-mounted LAN, that is, MOST, CAN,serial, infrared rays, and Bluetooth, and so on.

The internal storage device 12 can be composed of a RAM (Random AccessMemory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), forexample. This internal storage device 12 stores the customer informationincluded in the vehicle information received from the vehicle-signaloutput device 3. This internal storage device 12 is empty in the initialstate just after the car navigation system 1 is installed in the vehicle2.

The information processor 13 is performed by the program processingexecuted by a CPU (not shown). The information processor 13 is composedof a vehicle-information acquiring means 14, an acquired-informationdetermining means 15, a setting-information comparing means 16, asetting-information notification means 17, a setting-informationswitching means 18, and a processing program 19. The setting-informationgenerating means of the present invention is composed of theacquired-information determining means 15 and the setting-informationcomparing means 16.

The processing program 19 includes: a location processing program forperforming a location function that detects the vehicle position; amap-display processing program for performing a map-display functionthat displays a map on the display device 30; a menu-display processingprogram for performing a menu-display function that displays a menu onthe display device 30; an opening processing program for performing anopening function that displays a start-up screen on the display device30; and a retrieval processing program for performing a retrievalfunction that selects data for retrieving an address and facilities. Theprocessing program 19 performs an operation complying with the customerby installing setting information generated based on the customerinformation in the program.

The vehicle-information acquiring means 14 acquires the vehicleinformation from the vehicle-signal output device 3 through the externalcommunication interface 11. The customer information included in thevehicle information acquired by this vehicle-information acquiring means14 is sent to the acquired-information determining means 15.

The acquired-information determining means 15 determines whether thecustomer information sent from the vehicle-information acquiring means14 is valid or invalid. This determination is made by examining whetheror not the customer shown in the customer information exists in acustomer-list table (not shown) provided in the information processor13. The customer information judged to be valid by theacquired-information determining means 15 is sent to thesetting-information comparing means 16. When the customer information isjudged as being invalid by the acquired-information determining means15, the information is not sent to the setting-information comparingmeans 16, but the information is processed by the information processor13 in a predetermined way (described later in detail).

The setting-information comparing means 16 compares the customerinformation sent from the acquired-information determining means 15 withthe customer information stored in the internal storage device 12. As aresult compared by the setting-information comparing means 16, when thecorrespondence between these information is judged, the customerinformation is sent to the setting-information notification means 17. Incontrast, when no correspondence therebetween is judged, the customerinformation is sent to the internal storage device 12, and storedtherein.

The setting-information notification means 17 generates settinginformation based on any one of the customer information sent from thesetting-information comparing means 16, the customer information storedin the internal storage means 12, and the initial value. The settinginformation generated by this setting-information notification means 17is sent to the setting-information switching means 18.

The setting-information switching means 18 is provided in the processingprogram 19 using the setting information, specifically, in each of thelocation processing program, map-display processing program,menu-display processing program, opening processing program, andretrieval processing program. The setting-information switching meansswitches the internal setting state of the processing program 19 inorder to correspond to the setting information of the notificationreceived from the setting-information notification means 17. Theprocessing program 19 having the internal setting state switched by thissetting-information switching means 18 accesses the information storagedevice 20 and/or the display device 30, and executes the processing forperforming a location function, map-display function, menu-displayfunction, opening function, or retrieval function to comply with thecustomer.

The information storage device 20 is composed of a CD (Compact Disc), aDVD (Digital Versatile Disc), and a HDD (Hard Disc Drive), for example,and stores a map data 21, the processing program 19 (not shown), andother various data. The contents of this information storage device 20are read out from the information processor 13.

The display device 30 is composed of a liquid crystal display device(LCD), for example, and has a display portion 31. The display portion 31displays a map screen, menu screen, start-up screen, and retrievalscreen, required by the customer, for example, according to theprocessing of the processing program 19 of the setting state switched bythe setting-information switching means 18 of the information processor13.

The operation of the navigation system in accordance with Embodiment 1of the present invention, which is arranged as described above, will nowbe explained by referring to the flow charts shown in FIGS. 2-5.

when power is also turned on at the car navigation system 1 accompaniedby power-on of the vehicle 2, the vehicle information is first acquired(step ST10). To be specific, the vehicle-information acquiring means 14of the information processor 13 acquires the vehicle information fromthe vehicle-signal output device 3 through the external communicationinterface 11. Then, a judgment about the acquired information (acquiredvehicle information) is made (step ST11), and the acquired informationis examined as to whether the information is valid or invalid (stepST12). That is, the acquired-information determining means 15 examineswhether the customer information contained in the vehicle informationacquired by the vehicle-information acquiring means 14 is valid orinvalid.

In the step ST12, when the acquired information is judged to be valid, asetting-information comparison processing is subsequently performed(step ST13). This processing examines whether or not the customerinformation contained in the acquired information agrees with thecustomer information stored in the internal storage device 12 (stepST14). To be more specific, the setting-information comparing means 16compares the customer information contained in the acquired information(vehicle information) sent from the acquired-information determiningmeans 15 with the customer information stored in the internal storagedevice 12, and examines whether both of the customer information agreewith each other.

In the step ST14, when agreement is judged, the acquired customerinformation is notified to the processing program 19 (step ST15). To bespecific, the setting-information notification means 17 generatessetting information based on the customer information contained in theacquired information (vehicle information), and notifies thesetting-information switching means 18 included in the processingprogram 19 of the setting information.

In the above step ST14, when disagreement is judged, the last customerinformation stored in the internal storage device 12 is notified to theprocessing program 19 (step ST16). Specifically, the setting-informationnotification means 17 generates setting information based on the lastcustomer information stored in the internal storage device 12, andnotifies the setting-information switching means 18 included in theprocessing program 19 of the setting information. Thereafter, thecustomer information acquired this time is stored in the internalstorage device 12 (step ST17). Therefore, the newly acquired customerinformation becomes valid when the power is supplied to the carnavigation system 1 at the next time.

When the acquired information is judged as invalid in the above stepST12, the process then checks whether or not the customer information ispresent in the internal storage device 12 (step ST18). In this step,when presence of the information is judged, the customer informationstored in the internal storage device 12 is notified to the processingprogram 19 (step ST19). Specifically, the setting-informationnotification means 17 generates setting information based on thecustomer information stored in the internal storage device 12, andnotifies to the setting-information switching means 18 included in theprocessing program 19 of the setting information.

In the above step ST18, when no presence of the customer information isjudged in the internal storage device 12, the initial value of thesetting information is notified to the processing program 19 (stepST20). To be specific, the setting-information notification means 17makes notification of the initial value of the setting information thatis predetermined in the car navigation system 1 to thesetting-information switching means 18 included in the processingprogram 19.

Receiving the notification of the setting information in the above stepsST15, ST16, ST19 and ST20, the setting-information switching means 18switches the inner setting state of its own program to be adapted to thenotified setting information. The processing program 19 of which theinternal setting state is switched by the setting-information switchingmeans 18 accesses the information storage device 20 and/or the displaydevice 30, and executes the processing for performing the respectivefunctions. The switching processing between these setting states iscarried out based on any one of the following three patterns.

In the first switching pattern of the setting state, when the settinginformation is notified as shown in FIG. 3 (step ST21), the set value isswitched by simply replacing data stored in the program according to thesetting information (step ST22). This first switching pattern of thesetting state is employed by the location processing program 19 forperforming the location function. In this case, the set values are heldin the program for each of the customers as shown in FIG. 6, and the setvalue is replaced according to the customer information. For example,when customer information concerning a customer B as the vehicleinformation is received, the set value D is set in the locationprocessing program. Thereby, locator information such as thecircumference of a tire suiting the vehicle of the customer B, forexample, is output.

In the second switching pattern of the setting state, when the settinginformation is notified as shown in FIG. 4 (step ST30), the data heldpreviously in the program is switched according to the settinginformation (step ST31), and the display suiting to the customer isoutputted (step ST32). The second switching pattern of the setting stateis employed by the opening processing program for performing the openingdisplay function. In this case, the opening data stored previously inthe program is read according to the customer information and displayedas shown in FIG. 7. For example, when the customer informationconcerning a customer A is received as the vehicle information, theopening data of the customer A, stored in the program is displayed.Thus, the start-up screen required by the customer A, for example, isdisplayed.

In the third switching pattern of the setting state, when the settinginformation is notified as shown in FIG. 5 (step ST40), the data storedin the information storage device 20 is read and switched according tothe setting information (step ST41), and the display is outputted (stepST42). The third switching pattern of the setting state is employedchiefly by the menu-display processing program for performing themenu-display function, the map-display processing program for performingthe map-display function, and the retrieval processing program forperforming the retrieval function. In using the retrieval function, whenthe customer information concerning the customer A is received as thevehicle information, the retrieval data is switched such that theretrieval data of the customer A previously stored in the informationstorage device 20 is retrieved according to the setting information asshown to FIG. 8. Moreover, in a similar manner to the above, thecustomer-specific menu screen can be displayed when the menu-displayfunction is used, and the customer's symbol can be displayed on the mapwhen the map-display function is used.

As described above, according to the car navigation system of Embodiment1 of the present invention, by using the vehicle information availablefrom the external vehicle-signal output device 3, the functionscomplying with the specifications meeting the customers' requests can beperformed in a single program, and the operations of plural types ofsystems can be carried out in the same hardware that is a commonplatform. Furthermore, because the programs can be consolidated intoone, the volume of the recording medium of the map data storing theprograms can be prevented from increasing, thereby enabling the dataarea necessary for the car navigation system to be secured. Further, thesetting information (configuration) about the customer and so on can bealso added by renewing the program, thereby also enabling the carnavigation system to meet a variety of requirements of the customersafter the release of the program.

Embodiment 2

In the car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment 2 of thepresent invention, regional information, linguistic information, andsteering-wheel-position information are acquired as vehicle information.The regional information is the one concerning the shipped region, thatis, the region where the vehicle is used. The linguistic information isthe one concerning the language used to input and output information inthe vehicle 2. The steering-wheel-position information is theinformation concerning the position of the steering wheel of the vehicle2, that is, the information representing that the vehicle is a left-handdrive or right-hand drive one.

The configuration of the car navigation system in accordance withEmbodiment 2 is the same as that of the car navigation system inaccordance with Embodiment 1, shown in FIG. 1.

The operation of the car navigation system in accordance with Embodiment2 of the present invention will now be described as below. The procedureof processing thereof is generally the same as that of Embodiment 1,shown in the flow chart of FIG. 2 except that the vehicle informationthereof includes the regional information, linguistic information, andsteering-wheel-position information. For that, the operation thereofwill be explained without using the flow chart.

when power is also turned on at the car navigation system 1 accompaniedby power-on of the vehicle 2, the vehicle-information acquiring means 14first acquires vehicle information from the vehicle-signal output device3 through the external communication interface 11. This vehicleinformation includes the above-described regional information,linguistic information, and steering-wheel-position information. Here,we shall assume that “the U.K.” as the regional information, “English”as the linguistic information, and “left-hand drive” as thesteering-wheel-position information are acquired, respectively. Thevehicle information acquired by this vehicle-information acquiring means14 is sent to the acquired-information determining means 15.

The acquired-information determining means 15 determines whether thevehicle information, which is sent from the vehicle-informationacquiring means 14, that the regional information is “the U.K.,” thelinguistic information is “English,” and the steering-wheel-positioninformation is “left-hand drive,” is valid or invalid. This judgment ismade by determining whether or not “the U.K.” as the regionalinformation, “English” as the linguistic information, and “left-handdrive” as the steering-wheel-position information are registered in anot-shown table provided in the information processor 13. When beingjudged as valid by the acquired-information determining means 15, thevehicle information is sent to the setting-information comparing means16. In contrast, when being judged as invalid by theacquired-information determining means 15, the information is not sentto the setting-information comparing means 16, but the information isprocessed as an initial value in a predetermined procedure by theinformation processor 13 according to the regional information,linguistic information, and steering-wheel-position information storedin the information processor 13. (The detailed descriptions thereaboutare omitted.)

The setting-information comparing means 16 compares the vehicleinformation, that is, the individual pieces of information such as theregional information that the region is the U.K., the linguisticinformation that the language is English, and thesteering-wheel-position information that the steering-wheel position is“left-hand drive,” sent from the acquired-information determining means15 with the information each corresponding thereto stored in theinternal storage device 12. When being compared therewith by thissetting-information comparing means 16, and judged to agree with thelatter vehicle information, the regional information, linguisticinformation, and steering-wheel-position information are sent to thesetting-information notification means 17. In contrast, when beingjudged not to agree therewith, the regional information, linguisticinformation, and steering-wheel-position information are sent to theinternal storage device 12, and stored therein.

The setting-information notification means 17 generates settinginformation based on the regional information, the linguisticinformation, and the steering-wheel-position information sent from thesetting-information comparing means 16. The setting informationgenerated by this setting-information notification means 17 is sent tothe setting-information switching means 18.

The setting-information switching means 18 switches, to the processingprogram 19 using the setting information, the internal setting state ofthe program such that the regional information is “the U.K.,” thelinguistic information is “English,” the steering-wheel-positioninformation is “left-hand drive.” The processing program 19 the internalsetting state of which is switched by this setting-information switchingmeans 18 accesses the information storage device 20 and/or the displaydevice 30, and executes the processing for performing the functionsthereof.

For example, in displaying a map in the display portion 31 of thedisplay device 30, the map-display processing program causes Englishcharacter strings showing the names of streets on the map to be rotatedand displayed so that the names can be easily seen from the driver'sseat on the left side as shown in FIG. 9A. In contrast, when theregional information about a right-hand-drive-specification, thelinguistic information, and the steering-wheel-position information areacquired, the map-display processing program causes the characterstrings showing the names of streets on the map to be rotated anddisplayed so that the names can be easily seen from the driver's seat onthe right side as shown in FIG. 9B.

As described above, according to the car navigation system of Embodiment2 of the present invention, by using the vehicle information obtainablefrom the external vehicle-signal output device 3, the function of thenavigation suiting to the region where the vehicle 2 is used, thelanguage with which the vehicle is used, and the steering-wheel positionof the vehicle 2 can be performed in a single program, and theoperations of plural types of systems can be carried out in the samehardware that is a common platform.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As mentioned above, the car navigation system according to the presentinvention, does not need the provision of a plurality of programsmatching plural types of systems, respectively, and is suitable forsystems responding to plural customers' requests.

1. A navigation system including a processing program for controllingfunctions of the navigation system, the navigation system configured tocommunicate with a vehicle on which the navigation system is mounted toobtain vehicle information identifying the vehicle, and configured toadjust the processing program in accordance with the vehicleinformation; the navigation system comprising: an information acquiringunit for acquiring the vehicle information transmitted from the vehiclevia a vehicle-mounted LAN; an information determining unit fordetermining whether the vehicle information acquired by the informationacquiring unit exists in an internal memory provided in the informationdetermining unit; an information generating unit for generating, whenthe information determining unit determines that the vehicle informationacquired by the information acquiring unit exists in the internalmemory, setting-information of the processing program based on thevehicle information; and an adjusting unit for adjusting the processingprogram according to the setting-information generated by theinformation generating unit; wherein the navigation system operatesunder the processing program adjusted by the adjusting unit.
 2. Anavigation system according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting unitadjusts when the acquired information does not exist in the internalmemory, the processing program according to predeterminedsetting-information.
 3. A navigation system according to claim 1 furthercomprising: an information comparing unit for comparing the vehicleinformation with previously acquired vehicle information; wherein theinformation generating unit generates the setting-information based onthe previously acquired vehicle information when the vehicle informationacquired by the information acquiring unit is different from thepreviously acquired vehicle information.
 4. A navigation systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information includesinformation of a dealer of vehicles or a manufacturer of vehicles, andthe processing program controls the navigation system so as to display alogo of the dealer or the manufacture according to the information.
 5. Anavigation system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle informationincludes information indicating a language used in a region in which thevehicle is used, and the processing program controls the navigationsystem so as to display information in the language indicated by theinformation.
 6. A navigation system according to claim 1, wherein thevehicle information includes steering information indicating asteering-wheel position among left-hand drive and right-hand drive, andthe processing program controls the navigation system to displayinformation to a driver by rotating the displayed information accordingto the steering information.
 7. A navigation system according to claim1, wherein the vehicle information includes locator information, and theprocessing program includes a location detecting program which detectsvehicle position based on locator information.
 8. A navigation systemaccording to claim 7, wherein the locator information comprises acircumference of a tire of the vehicle.